Religious Freedom: October 2011 Archives

On 25 October 2011, Los Angelus Archbishop José H. Gomez, STD, 60, spoke on the slow loss of America's first freedom. On March 1, 2011, Archbishop Gomez became the Archbishop of Los Angelus, after being the Archbishop of San Antonio; he's been a bishop for nearly 11 years. A stellar article follows:

There
is much evidence to suggest that our society no longer values the public role
of religion or recognizes the importance of religious freedom as a basic right.
As scholars like Harvard's Mary Ann Glendon and Michael Sandel have observed,
our courts and government agencies increasingly treat the right to hold and
express religious beliefs as only one of many private lifestyle options. And,
they observe, this right is often "trumped" in the face of challenges from
competing rights or interests deemed to be more important.

These
are among the reasons the U.S. Catholic bishops recently established a new Ad
Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. My brother bishops and I are deeply
concerned that believers' liberties--and the Church's freedom to carry out her mission--are
threatened today, as they never have been before in our country's history.

Catholics
have always believed that we serve our country best as citizens when we are
trying to be totally faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church.
And since before the founding of the American Republic, Catholics--individually
and institutionally--have worked with government agencies at all levels to
provide vital social services, education, and health care.

A timely piece to think seriously about daily is the notion of religious freedom not only around the globe, but also and significantly here in the USA. Today, the Most Reverend William E. Lori addressed the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee on the Constitution. Here are a few paragraphs (the link to the full text is noted below):

Religious
liberty is not merely one right among others, butenjoys a certain primacy. As
the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI recently explained: "It is indeed the first
of human rights, not only because it was historically the first to be
recognized but also because it touches the constitutive dimension of man, his
relation with his Creator." (Pope Benedict XVI, Address to Diplomatic Corps,
10 Jan. 2011.) The late
Pope John Paul II taught that "the most fundamental human freedom [is] that of
practicing one's faith openly, which for human beings is their reason for
living." (Pope John Paul II, Address to Diplomatic Corps, 13 Jan. 1996, No. 9.) Not coincidentally, religious
liberty is first on the list in the Bill of Rights, the charter of our Nation's
most cherished and fundamental freedoms. The First Amendment begins: "Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof...." It is commonly, and with justice, called our "First
Freedom."

US Congressman Frank R. Wolf, 72, (Virginia 10th District) proposed the bill in 1998 which created The United States Commission on International Religious Freedomis a bi-partisan US Federal commission, appointed by the US President to advise him and Congress on matters pertaining to the freedom of religion. The CIRF reports to Congress and the State Department, is now in jeopardy.

It's work is research and advocacy for freedom and human rights. It looks at the practice of religion and it's freedom to exist.

HOWEVER, there is one senator who is blocking funding, anonymously. We need to write to our senators. We need to speak out!!!

After November 18 the Commission may go out of business.

Congressman Wolf thinks that if the bill is passed, Obama will sign the bill. But truth be told, the President is not really in favor the Commission's work.

Amy Sullivan of Time magazine wrote a piece today, "Why Catholic Bishops are Targeting Obama on Religious Freedom." I don't particularly think Sullivan's article is not all that informative, in fact, I think she needs to review it again and republish it. She does, however, indirectly say that Catholics --indeed all people of faith-- better wake up today and get with the program: the current presidential administration of the US government is narrowing an understanding and practice of religious freedom. Catholics, unlike the Jews or the Muslims are too often slow to know the horizons of the debate. Catholics don't often go up to Mount Nebo to survey the geography or their own history. Whether recent events are the most egregious in 30 years is a matter of opinion, but the trampling (or reduction) of religious freedom harms everybody, atheist and the Legion of Mary member alike.

It's time to get fluent in the terms of religious freedom, pun intended.

This is not a Catholic issue. This is an issue for all people who live a life of faith.

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.